Ask me about the Bible... I'm Catholic!

That conference was phenomenal. I normally avoid institutional Bible study material... but I am SOLD on this. The Bible Timeline is incredible. Believe it or not, it's basically the same method for studying Scripture that the Catholic Church used almost a thousand years ago (but which kind of got lost along the way).

The Great Adventure Bible Studies series have a simple goal: to make people say, "You know a lot about the Bible... you must be Catholic!" I am psyched about this. I've learned things that I can bring into the Bible Study I facilitate already at another parish, and I can't wait to start the Bible Timeline study at my own parish.

Here are 22 pages of notes (126 K, in MS Word format) that I took at the lectures I attended. These are the topics:

• Friday
• Keynote: Scripture in the Life of the Church – Dr. Tim Gray
• Eight Keys for Unlocking Scripture – Dr. Ted Sri
• How to Facilitate a Small Group – Dr. Tim Gray
• Bible Study Materials and Resources – Thomas Smith
• Panel: Stump the Bible Scholars – Jeff Cavins, Dr. Tim Gray, Dr. Ted Sri
• Saturday
  
• A Biblical Walk-Through of the Mass – Dr. Ted Sri
• Increasing the Effectiveness of Your Bible Study: Problem-Solving Workshop for Study Leaders – Dr. Tim Gray & Jeff Cavins
• Why Study the Bible Timeline – Dr. Tim Gray
• Geography of the Bible – Jeff Cavins
• Increasing Your “Prophet” Margins – Thomas Smith
• Lectio Divina: The Ancient Technique for Praying with Scripture – Dr. Tim Gray
• The Living Timeline: The Story Continues in You – Jeff Cavins

Scripture: "Called to Lead"

This Friday and Saturday, I'm at my diocesan center attending the "Called to Lead" Bible Study leader formation conference. It's geared towards the "Great Adventure" Bible Study series (such as the Bible Timeline). The first day of the conference was, well, great! There are some excellent speakers here, like Jeff Cavins, Dr. Tim Gray, and Dr. Ted Sri. I've seen Dr. Sri on EWTN's "The Abundant Life", talking about the connections between Mass and Scripture; I've also got a book (Catholic for a Reason III) which has one chapter written by him: a biblical walk-through of the Mass. And he's giving a talk on that same topic tomorrow morning. Scriptural liturgy is my passion, if you couldn't tell.

This is a thoroughly Catholic Bible Study conference. Each session begins and ends with prayer in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and often requesting the intercession of our Blessed Mother. We are learning how to work with small groups, how to approach Scripture from a Catholic perspective and with a Catholic interpretation, and we're being energized to bring this into our parishes and renew Catholic fervor for Sacred Scripture. Imagine hearing someone say "Wow! You know Scripture really well... you must be Catholic!"

I'll be posting my copious notes soon. But for now, I need sleep... there's a full day of sessions tomorrow.